Throwback Thursday and Tanaquil Le Clercq
Known as “Tanny”, Tanaquil Le Clercq (1929-2000), was one of
America’s most exquisite ballet dancers.
She was a muse to both Jerome Robbins and to her husband, George
Balanchine, as well as an inspiration to many dance students and balletomanes. She was a principal dancer with the New York
City Ballet, but her career ended suddenly at age 27 when she was stricken with
polio.
Although she remained paralyzed from the waist down for the
rest of her life, she continued to teach dance, using her arms and upper
body. Tanaquil Le Clercq died of
pneumonia in 2000. She was 71 years old.
In a strange case of irony, when she was fifteen, Balanchine choreographed a role for her in a ballet
presented at a benefit performance for
the March of Dimes. In it she portrayed
a character who fell to the ground, paralyzed, until the children in the
audience threw dimes at her to get her to stand up and dance again. The charity event was designed to raise money
to find a cure for polio.
Her life story will be portrayed on PBS in the series American Masters, scheduled to air in June
2014.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Dance History Factoid #29:
“Tanaquil Le Clercq was a famous ballerina with the New York City Ballet.”
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
“When we least expect
it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at
such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in
saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not
look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to
accept our destiny.”
―Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prym
―Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prym
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